"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:15-16 People are deceived by the false prophets because they don't appear to be false. Remember always that Satan knows what he is doing. He was created the wisest of all the angels. Though he has been kicked out of heaven, still he plans his agenda with great foresight, knowing what he's going to do and how he's going to make it work. Someone once said that the most important thing in warfare is to know your enemy. If you don't know how your enemy works, he can easily deceive you. Don't be deceived! Contrast the picture of the false prophet with the picture of Jesus or any of the disciples of Jesus, and take a good look. The false prophet is in it for two purposes, wealth and fame. Jesus and his disciples were in it ready to sacrifice all for the salvation of men. The false prophet goes around in expensive cars, jets, and they live lavishly. Not one of the followers of Jesus would have even dreamed of living lavishly. The false prophet's message is crafted to gather followers unto himself. Their method is to teach how to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, because that brings the money in. Friends, they are liars. And this is common to all of them, they are liars. They are so skillful, that many of the sheep have no clue. Truly, truly, they appear in sheeps' clothing. They smile. Big smiles. They speak softly, smoothly, and have the appearance of just plain nice people, but they are ravening wolves serving the author of lies, the devil himself. You'd never think such a thing about them because they are so NICE. Always, nice. Always with charisma, a winning personality. But they are actually wolves in sheeps' clothing. If they're living lavishly, RUN. If they're trying to teach you how to live lavishly, RUN. If their focus is on how you can build up your self-esteem, RUN. If they suggest you're part of divinity, RUN. You aren't. You are not god inside, not in any way, shape, or form. It's a lie. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples asked him what would be the signs of his return. Most believers are familiar with what he said about there being wars, rumors of war, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence (diseases). But many miss the very FIRST thing he said. In answer to their question, the very first thing he said was, "Take heed that no one DECEIVES you." (Matthew 24:4) THE ONE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LAST DAYS IS DECEPTION. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth..." 2nd Timothy 4:3-4 How will one know if a teacher or minister is in that category? The answer is that what they teach will NOT be sound doctrine. They won't teach on judgment, on sin, on repentance, on hell. Jesus said more about hell than he said about heaven! The doctrines of Christianity were established by Jesus Christ and the apostles, and have remained the same throughout the generations BECAUSE it is the Word of God and God does not change. God does not change with the times. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away." Mark 13:31 "For I am the Lord, I do not change;" Malachi 3:6 There has been much written about the last generation, pointing at our present generation as the time when there will be an unprecedented rise of evil. The wolves in sheeps' clothing will not preach on evil, on the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is how you will know them. They will use Scripture only to make themselves seem right. "He quotes Scripture," they will say, without thought that one of Satan's hallmarks is that he uses Scripture to deceive. He tempted Adam and Eve, USING SCRIPTURE. He tempted Jesus three times, USING SCRIPTURE. No my friend, the fact that he's using Scripture does NOT accredit him. The wolves in sheeps' clothing use Scripture only to back up their false doctrines. This is the generation of unprecedented violence and murder. Untold millions of little boys and girls have been murdered in this generation. This is the generation of Sodom, the generation of perversion. Homosexuality is so accepted, even in the churches, that the believer who refuses to uphold it is threatened with all manner of repercussions. This is the generation turning against Israel. This generation is steeped in EVIL. How does one know those who are wolves in sheeps' clothing? By their fruit, Jesus said. Are they preaching the pure Word of God? Are they preaching on sin? On repentance? On picking up your cross and following Christ? Do they preach on the horrors of hell? Or ...are they preaching on using the Word of God to foster a lifestyle focused on self. "Your best life now." The best life now - of the true follower of Jesus Christ - is the life spent in daily repentance, in daily preaching the real truth, in daily picking up one's cross and following Jesus Christ, loving not one's life even unto death, (Revelation 12:11). And THAT ...is the truth.
"Or if a woman makes a vow to the Lord,
and binds herself by some agreement
while in her father’s house in her youth,
and her father hears her vow
and the agreement by which she has bound herself,
and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand,
and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.
But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears,
then none of her vows nor her agreements
by which she has bound herself shall stand;
and the Lord will release her,
because her father overruled her."
Numbers 30:3-5
This passage in the Word of God speaks of authority. A woman living in her father's house is under the authority of her father. This is how God has set it up. God establishes authority and it stands whether people acknowledge it or not, and whether women submit or not. It is an ordinance of the Lord.
vs 7-8:
"If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows
or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself,
and her husband hears it, and makes no response
to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand,
and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand.
But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it,
he shall make void her vow which she took
and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself,
and the Lord will release her."
When a woman is married, she comes under her husband's authority - whether she acknowledges that or not, and whether she submits to his authority or not, it is God who established it. It will stand.
But we live in a "modern" world in which such ordinances of God are scorned. If you bring these verses to a "feminist" be prepared to be laughed at, or worse. These days, no daughter and no wife would even think to submit to the authority of a father or husband. We have become so "progressive," you see. We're the enlightened generation, you know. God had better rewrite his Word because no one will receive it, of course.
But God is not about to change his mind when it comes to his Word.
"The grass withers, and its flower falls away,
but the Word of the Lord endures FOREVER.”
1st Peter 1:24-25
"For I am the Lord, I DO NOT CHANGE;"
Malachi 3:6
The Word of God is solid and it is forever, it never changes, nor does it vary with the times. Society changes, in fact society has "progressed" very far from heeding the Word of God, and society pays the price for that. Divorce and fatherless children are a result of scorning the Word of God. Violating the Word of God is not ok with God, nor does he take into consideration the "advanced state" of modern society.
Those who would reject God's Word on the subject of submission to authority, especially on the subject of a wife's requirement to submit to her husband - they reject the idea saying that a man is NOT greater than a woman so this is "foolishness." Nowhere in the Word of God is this sentiment found. It has nothing to do with being better than, or greater than. Take as an example a household in which the father is a brute and the child quite the opposite, a good child, an intelligent child. The Word of God holds the child, the better one in this case - in submission to the lesser, because it's not a matter of better or lesser, that is not a consideration. It's a matter of God-ordained authority.
Some might argue that it's impossible for a child to remain submitted to a brutish man. And of course, the child is not commanded to submit in cases where the father directs the child to sin. But even in such a case the ATTITUDE of the child must remain reverent to the brutish father. And a child or a wife who receives the Word of God and follows it, will find that a correct attitude even in an unpleasant setting will find the windows of heaven opened and blessing poured out, for following the Word of God always prompts the response of God in great blessing.
Jesus Christ submitted to the Father always, but was in no wise greater than or lesser than the Father. He kept the Word of God.
God has placed an obvious sign in his principle of wives submitting to husbands. Have you ever noticed that in general, the husband is taller and stronger than the wife? This is no accident of nature. God has deliberately ordained it this way to keep a perpetual reminder of his Word as it relates to husbands and wives. God could have made them generally equal in height and strength, but he chose to stress the importance of this principle by creating them the way he did, a principle that will not change regardless of the changes in society.
Before any man reading this should become puffed up on this principle, he must be reminded that the Word of God also speaks to the man, telling him his part:
He who said:
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord,
for the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church,
and He is the Savior of the body ...so let the wives be
to their own husbands in everything."
Ephesians 5:22
Also said:
vs 25, 28:
"So husbands ought to LOVE their own wives AS THEIR OWN BODIES;"
This rules out any brutishness on the part of the husband. His role is to love his wife even as his own body, to protect her, to highly esteem her. Any brutishness in his behavior toward his wife will be met with the rebuke of heaven, and sometimes the Lord will allow the wife to leave, especially if she and the children are in danger. But that is a sometime thing - and she must get the Lord's will in the situation by bringing it to the Lord in prayer.
When a man and a woman each accept their God-given roles, they will receive the blessing of God upon their marriage, for it is God who ordained such and submission to the Word of God always draws the blessing of God.
"In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil." Proverbs 16:6 Atonement... Our God is different from all other so-called "gods" in that he alone provides atonement for sin. No other religion does that. All other religions teach that the way to heaven is to do good. But the Bible tells us a story far different. The Word of God tells us NO ONE will be saved that way: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight..." Romans 3:20 Why is that? Because no one can be good ENOUGH. All are guilty of sin, and the Word of God tells us that no one is going to get to heaven by performing the deeds of the law of God, because all have sinned. No one is going to get to heaven by being a "good" person. And that's because the sin element is not addressed, and it has to be. "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23 You can't go to heaven with judgment upon you, the wages of your sin. If you are defiled with sin, you simply will not be received in heaven. Confession does not erase a person's sin guilt. So you ask, therefore, "well who can enter heaven then?" The answer is no one. No one guilty of sin enters heaven. And whether you admit it or not, you ARE a sinner. "...for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 All have sinned, and no one guilty of sin, any sin, can enter heaven. Satan has created all false religions to say that all "good" people go to heaven. It is heresy. It is a lie from the pits of hell. Satan is a liar, and the father of it. To damn people he lies to them. He tells them they must be good if they want to get to heaven - which keeps people from heaven. "When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." John 8:44 The problem is that no one is "good." "...they are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one;'" Romans 3:9-10 "Good" is not relative. You are not "good" because you are better than someone else. You are not "good" because certain sins you would never commit. If you see someone committing adultery, do you look with disgust and pat yourself on the back because you would never do that? You see a murderer and you pat yourself on the back because you would never do that. Because there are things you would never do, you convince yourself you are "good." You give money to charity, you attend church every Sunday, you teach your children right from wrong, and so you consider yourself "good." You're lying to yourself, folks. There is not one "good" in the eyes of God, no, not one, because all are under sin. If a man stands before a judge convicted of rape and murder, it's not going to matter one wit to the judge if the man tells him the good things he has done. He's there because he has committed a crime. If he has given money to charity, if he has been a help to a neighbor, whatever good he might have done is NOT going to be of any interest to the judge. He is guilty and condemned. But … Let's say someone comes before the judge and tells the judge that he volunteers to bear the punishment for this sinner. Let's say the judge allows it. Then the rapist, the murderer, the liar - large sins, small sins - in the eyes of the law - can go free, because the judgment on his crimes has been taken by someone else. That's exactly what Jesus Christ has done for YOU. Jesus Christ came to this earth to become the atonement for sinners. He took upon himself the judgment due on their sins. He was mercilessly tortured and crucified as he bore the judgment of every sinner who will receive him. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 There must be something terrible to be avoided, if it cost the Savior such a terrible price. If you belong to a religion that tells you to just do good things and you'll be ok, FLEE from that religion. If you belong to a religion that offers you forgiveness if you follow rites and rituals, FLEE from that religion. It won't work because it's a lie. You are a sinner, and there is judgment due. God did not author all those multitudes of religions, that was the work of Satan who seeks to keep man from salvation. There is only ONE way to heaven, and that is to be saved by the Blood of the Lamb, the lamb who was slaughtered as the atonement for your sin, who took the judgment in your place. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 God says there is NO other way. "He paid a debt he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay." Pray with me: Lord God, I've tried to be a good person but the harder I try the worse I do. I realize that sin is too great for me to conquer. I need a Savior, and I've heard you have provided THE Savior. Lord Jesus Christ, you bore the judgment on my sins, and I ask you to receive me. You said that you are the only way, and I choose to believe the truth of that. Come be the Lord of my life. I haven't been such a good lord over my life while I've been in charge of it, so I surrender myself and my life to you, asking you to be MY Lord and MY Savior, and I will spend all eternity thanking you for the sacrifice you were willing to pay ...for ME. More: What Does 'Born Again' Mean?
